Moody’s Corporation $MCO Shares Sold by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP lowered its position in shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by 7.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 388,309 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 29,473 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.22% of Moody’s worth $169,400,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MCO. Qsemble Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 78.3% during the fourth quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 5,703 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,913,000 after acquiring an additional 2,505 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,097,101,000. National Pension Service lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 38.7% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 514,377 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $262,769,000 after purchasing an additional 143,515 shares in the last quarter. LBP AM SA boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 5,179.4% during the 4th quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 38,751 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $19,796,000 after purchasing an additional 38,017 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,375,768 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,213,661,000 after purchasing an additional 111,725 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on MCO. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, July 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $610.00 target price for the company. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $565.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley set a $512.00 price objective on Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Moody’s from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Moody’s from $489.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $551.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total transaction of $684,194.13. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 75,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,067,397.71. The trade was a 1.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $71,679.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $900,534.95. This trade represents a 7.37% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 3,250 shares of company stock worth $1,495,098 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Moody’s this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Moody’s reported Q2 EPS of $4.68, ahead of consensus, and revenue of $2.19 billion, up 15.1% year over year, helped by stronger bond issuance activity and solid demand in analytics. Article Link
• Positive Sentiment: The company raised its stock repurchase outlook and declared a $1.03 dividend, which supports shareholder returns. Article Link
• Neutral Sentiment: Moody’s updated full-year 2026 EPS guidance to $16.50-$17.00, which is broadly in line with expectations, but not enough to offset concerns about margin pressure. Article Link
• Negative Sentiment: The market is reacting to lower 2026 operating margin guidance, suggesting costs may be rising faster than expected and limiting enthusiasm for the earnings beat. Article Link

Moody’s Trading Down 0.3%

MCO stock opened at $489.38 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The company has a market cap of $85.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.08, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $463.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $464.93. Moody’s Corporation has a 52 week low of $402.28 and a 52 week high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.26 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 70.97% and a net margin of 31.69%.The firm’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.56 earnings per share. Moody’s has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.500-17.000 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.73 EPS for the current year.

About Moody’s

Moody’s Corporation is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and analytics that support financial decision-making and transparency in capital markets. The company traces its origins to the early 20th century when financial analyst John Moody began publishing credit information; today Moody’s is headquartered in New York and serves a broad set of market participants including investors, issuers, financial institutions, corporations, governments and regulators.

Moody’s operates primarily through two complementary businesses.